The protection of personal computers and other valuable company assets was easy when the hardware assets were large and cumbersome. Consequently nobody had to worry about assets being stolen.
In today's global economy, companies hire both employees and contractors to complete work assignments. Employees and contractors share the same office space and work in an open environment. Many employees and contractors work in cubicles and therefore do not have doors with locks to protect their assets. Hardware assets such as cell phones, personal computers and the like have shrunk in size and are easily portable. While some attempts have been made to secure personal computers by cable locks, these are not effective at controlling theft as the cables can be cut. Furthermore, when hardware assets are lost, companies lose more than just the assets. Companies lose valuable data that may be stored in the asset and the time taken to replace the assets.
Therefore, a need exists for asset management in an open environment.